All posts for the month August, 2016

So there is a post on Tumblr that has been going around of a person that found a caterpillar, decided they were bros, and named it Chicken Nugget. This person then proceeded to document and post the caterpillar’s life cycle with commentary. It was actually pretty cute. I wish I could find it to share it here. But anyway take inspiration from Chicken Nugget and write about your character observing the life cycle of someone or something.

The Lune is similar to a Haiku as it was created by Robert Kelly out of frustration with writing in the Haiku style. He toyed with the form to the point of creating his own. His only rules to the form are the syllable count, which leaves all other aspects including subject matter open. The poem is a 13-syllable, self-contained poem that has 5 syllables in the first line, 3 syllables in the second line and 5 syllable in the final line. Try it out and see what you come up with.

There was this after one of the Olympic Tennis matches where a reported commented that Andy Murray was the first person to win two gold metals for America. His response was “I’m pretty sure Venus and Serena Williams have four each.” I love that he knew the history of his sport and I especially love that he had no problem correcting that reporter for overlooking two very accomplished female athletes. That moment could have gone very Sam Smith at his acceptance speech assuming he’s the only gay man who ever won. There is no mercy online for people who don’t know their cultures history. The sad thing is that most history isn’t taught in school. We have to find it ourselves. I’ve found an app called Quist that gives me a daily history of what happened in the LGBT community. I’ve found some really interesting facts out that I never would have otherwise learned. Write a scene in which it is important that your character to know the history of a certain group he belongs to. Is it a something like LGBTQ history or Black history? Or is it something specific to his profession like the tennis gold medalist?

The luc bat is a Vietnamese form that means “six-eight.” The poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables, and suddenly the meaning of the name becomes clear. There is an interesting rhyme scheme to work with in a luck bat. The eight syllable lines contain the rhyme for both the previous and next lines. In case that doesn’t sounds clear I’ve put a sample of what it should look like below. There is no limit to how many lines so you can continue the pattern until you get dizzy. Remember that the x’s in the pattern below are syllables, not necessarily words.

Adria Sanchez-Chaidez deigned, sewed, and modeled an amazing Wonder Woman inspired look. I’m a sucker for fashion pieces that transform on a turn. But this look is especially appropriate if you recall the way that Wonder Woman used to do spin transformations back when she was played by Lynda Carter. The super heroes always had to be ready for a quick change back then. Write a scene that takes inspiration from the super hero quick change.

Write a poem about the forming of religion. If you are a religious person tell us about how your religion itself was formed and how your relationship with that religion was formed. If you are not a religious person talk about your views on how religions are formed in general. Does your writing show why you aren’t a religious person or is that something you have to show separately?

It seems that live action is Disney’s new favorite thing. So many of the cartoons from my childhood have been either already remade or are in the works to be done as live action. Tomorrow Pete’s Dragon is coming out in theaters. I didn’t realize until I was checking release dates how soon this one was coming out. (I guess they haven’t been advertising it as much as some of their other new live actions.) Take inspiration from all of these remakes and give your character a way to relive his childhood for a scene. What is it that takes him back to that time? Would the child he was be proud of the adult that he is?

Graphic designer Matt W. Moore is known for his interest in mandalas. (These are geometric figures representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism.) He’s made a good deal of them using the more traditional art medium of paint and canvas. The work from his project below was created entirely out of items he found in nature. He used these items with extreme precision to create the beautiful patterns below. I can certainly see how these are inspired by the art of mandalas they definitely have a feeling of mysticism to me. I could easily see these being used as the set up of complex magical rituals in stories. Write a story inspired by these pieces. Will you be joining me in the fantasy idea of magical rituals or just be using the idea of your character foraging for something in nature to use in a new way?

Yesterday was one of those day where everything seemed to go wrong for me. By the end of it, I just wanted to hit the fast forward to some point in the future where everything doesn’t suck. I know logically that it’s a silly thought to want to skip days in your life. And I so badly want to believe that our lives are what we make of them but certain days make it hard to believe in anything. Write about a day like that for you. How dark do these days make you? What do you do to counter this darkness?

Britney Spears released the single “Make Me…” a few weeks ago but two days ago she released the video for the single. It’s not unnatural to see a lot of skin in music videos. But more often than not that is from female dancers in the videos. This video shows Britney and her friends flipping that role. They audition guy after guy and proceed to watch as the men attempt to wow them with their talent and bodies. (Mostly bodies they’re almost all shirtless at some point.) Write a scene that takes inspiration from this video and flips expectations. Either flip roles that you’ve believe people have come to expect in given situations or find a way to shatter the expectation all together.